WASHINGTON — Federal health authorities are investigating reports of 13 deaths possibly linked to so-called energy shots and cautioning consumers to talk to their doctors before they take them or other energy drinks.

The Food and Drug Administration has received 92 reports over four years that cite illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths after consumption of a product marketed as 5-Hour Energy.

The FDA has also received reports that cited the highly caffeinated Monster Energy Drink in five deaths and one nonfatal heart attack.

Agency officials said the reports to the FDA from consumers, doctors and others don’t necessarily prove that the drinks caused the deaths or injuries but said they are investigating each one.

A spokeswoman for the manufacturer, Michigan-based Living Essentials, LLC, said 5-Hour Energy is a “compact-sized energy shot intended for busy adults — it is not an energy drink, nor marketed as a beverage.”

Elaine Lutz said the company is not aware of any deaths proven to have been caused by their product. She said the company’s website advises consumers to drink no more than two bottles of the shots per day, spaced several hours apart, and for new consumers to drink half a bottle to start.

Olympic gymnasts visit White House

WASHINGTON — The Fierce Five and other members of the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team got a personal audience with President Barack Obama on Thursday, Nov. 15, while on tour in Washington.

The group met with the president in the Oval Office before huddling together in the chill outside to watch his helicopter lift off. Obama was headed to New York to tour storm damage.

The Fierce Five — Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Kyla Ross, Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber — claimed the gold at this summer’s London Games. They signed leotards to give to the president’s daughters, Sasha and Malia, during the visit.

Mercury poisoning didn’t kill Brahe

PRAGUE — Ever since Tycho Brahe died suddenly more than 400 years ago, there has been mystery about whether the Dane whose celestial observations laid the groundwork for modern astronomy fell victim to natural causes or was murdered.

On Thursday, scientists who had exhumed his body said one thing is clear — if he was murdered, it wasn’t with mercury, as many rumors had claimed.

“All tests revealed the same result: that mercury concentrations were not sufficiently high to have caused his death,” said Kaare Lund Rasmussen, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Southern Denmark.

The scientists didn’t say what did kill the astronomer, but tests are still being conducted on the remains.

Patz confession false, lawyer says

NEW YORK — The man charged with killing a 6-year-old boy in 1979 made a false confession and will plead not guilty in a case that catalyzed the missing-children’s movement, his lawyer said Thursday.

Pedro Hernandez’s admission in May to suffocating Etan Patz was a stunning turn in one of the most notorious and vexing cases in New York City history, prompting the first arrest ever in the case. But he is mentally ill, and his statements “are not reliable,” his lawyer, Harvey Fishbein, said after Hernandez made a brief court appearance Thursday.

“The really sad part of this case is that it will take time, it will take money … and it will not tell the city what happened to Etan Patz,” Fishbein said.

An ashen-looking Hernandez stood in handcuffs during the hearing and never spoke.

Wrong face reveals counterfeit bill

ATTLEBORO, Mass. — A Rhode Island man police say used counterfeit $100 bills to make purchases at a Target store made a critical mistake.

The bills had a picture of President Abraham Lincoln on them. Real $100 bills bear a picture of Benjamin Franklin. Lincoln’s portrait graces the $5 bill.

Dana Leland of Central Falls, R.I., was held on $1,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty Wednesday in Attleboro District Court to charges of uttering a counterfeit note and possession of a counterfeit note.

Jordan police chief promises ‘iron fist’

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordanian authorities will strike those who incite violence during protests with an “iron fist,” the country’s police chief said Thursday as the Islamist-led opposition vowed to continue demonstrations that have rattled the U.S.-allied kingdom.

The protests, which erupted Tuesday across Jordan in response to the government’s hiking fuel and gas prices, are the largest and most sustained to hit the country since the start of uprisings in the region nearly two years ago.

“We will hit with an iron fist those who violated the law by stirring unrest,” said Gen. Hussein Majali, adding that he had “zero tolerance” for such actions.

Wrongly implicated man, BBC settle

LONDON — The BBC reached a settlement Thursday with the Conservative politician wrongly implicated in a child sex abuse scandal.

The BBC has already apologized for linking 70-year-old Alistair McAlpine, a member of the House of Lords, to child sex abuse that happened decades ago in Wales. The mistaken report, broadcast nearly two weeks ago, has caused turmoil within BBC management ranks and led to the resignation of its chief.

The British broadcaster said late Thursday it had resolved McAlpine’s libel claim, calling it a “comprehensive” settlement that “reflects the gravity of the allegations that were wrongly made.”

The politician will receive $293,200 in damages and the terms of the agreement will be announced in court in a few days, his lawyers told Britain’s Press Association.

FDA says tests saw contamination

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration says a New Mexico peanut company linked to a recent salmonella outbreak distributed peanut and almond butters after its own internal testing showed the products were contaminated.

Sunland Inc. is the nation’s largest organic peanut butter processor, though it also produces many non-organic products. The company recalled hundreds of nuts and nut butters manufactured since 2010 after one of its products, Trader Joe’s Valencia Creamy Peanut Butter, was linked to 41 salmonella illnesses around the county in September.

FDA reports released this week show that repeated agency inspections found problems at the plant since 2007, though government officials didn’t take any action or release the results of those inspections until after the illnesses were discovered this year. Sunland sold hundreds of different peanut products to many of the nation’s largest grocery chains, including Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Safeway, Target and other large national retailers.

Curiosity to rove in search of a rock

LOS ANGELES — After playing in the sand, the Curiosity rover is poised to trek across the Martian landscape in search of a rock to drill into, scientists reported Thursday.

The six-wheel rover has been parked for more than a month at a sand dune where it has been busy scooping up soil, sniffing the atmosphere and measuring radiation levels on the surface. Its next task is to zero in on a rock and that requires driving to a new location.

Mission deputy scientist Ashwin Vasavada expected Curiosity to be on the move in the “next few days.”

“It’s the bedrock which really gives you the story of ancient Mars,” said Vasavada of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $2.5 billion mission. “The soil is a little harder to interpret because we don’t know how old it is or where it came from.”

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